South Australian
start-up Carina Biotech, born out of the Australian government-funded Cooperative
Research Centre for Cell Therapy Manufacturing (CRC CTM), is developing Chimeric
Antigen Receptor T cell (CAR-T) technologies to treat solid and paediatric
cancers. CAR-T therapy involves engineering a patient's own immune system to
target and destroy their cancer cells. In April 2018, Carina Biotech received
funding from the Department of Health's BioMedTech Horizons program, delivered
by MTPConnect, to further progress research into this new therapy.

The CTM CRC, with the help
of the South Australian government's TechInSA, recognised the potential to
develop outcome-focused collaborative research partnerships and formed Carina
Biotech to develop CAR-T cell therapies to treat solid and paediatric cancers. Through
undergoing research and in vitro experiments, Carina Biotech is on its way to
developing a novel CAR-T therapy. CAR-T therapy is a type of T cell immunotherapy
that isolates a patient's T-cells (from a blood sample) then engineers them in
a lab to express a CAR (chimeric antigen receptor) on their surface, which is
targeted to a specific marker that has been found to exist on most solid cancer
cells; becoming a CAR-T cell. The newly formed CAR-T cells will then recognise
this marker and attack and kill the cancer cells.

CEO of Carina Biotech Dr
Justin Coombs said the CAR-T therapy will provide significant health benefits
to patients living with cancer.

“CAR-T
trials against blood cancers have been extraordinarily effective with complete
remission rates of over 90% being seen in patient groups that have failed
conventional treatment.”

At this stage, Carina
Biotech has reported that the marker has not been found (through others’
research) to be expressed on healthy cells, leaving them undestroyed by CAR-T
cells. This is a major development from traditional cancer treatments such as
chemotherapy and radiotherapy that typically result in a lot of off-cancer
damage.

Carina Biotech’s first lead
technology is a CAR-T cell targeted to a dysfunctional version of a cell
surface protein that controls cell death in old and damaged cells. The
non-functioning version has been identified in a wide variety of cancers
including brain, prostate, breast, bowel, lung and melanoma. Carina Biotech
wants to strengthen Australia’s capacity in the rapidly emerging field of
immunotherapy and facilitate substantial technology and knowledge to upskill
Australian scientists.

In collaboration with researchers
at the Seattle Children’s Research Institute, world leaders in the CAR-T cell field,
Carina Biotech will provide emerging Australian scientists with world-leading advice
and expertise in clinical trials and T-cell manufacturing. The Seattle
Children’s Research Institute is led by Professor Mike Jensen who has immense
expertise in cellular immunotherapies for paediatric cancers. A researcher from
Carina Biotech visited the Jensen lab in late 2017 to learn from Professor
Jensen and his colleagues and apply newly gained knowledge to the further development
of Carina’s technologies back in Adelaide.

Carina Biotech, along with
its partners, will continue to advance the technology through preclinical
trials, and develop a pipeline of follow-on technologies relating to solid
cancer CAR-T cell therapy. The company will also focus on advancing CAR-T’s
manufacturing capability, offering highly skilled science and engineering based
manufacturing jobs to remain in Australia. The therapy will make a significant
economic contribution and to the development of science in Australia.

Dr Coombs explained that
Carina Biotech will benefit greatly from the Australian Government’s first
round of the BioMedTech Horizons program funding.

“The
BioMedTech Horizons program investment will enable Carina to advance its CAR-T
cells through multiple animal models of human solid cancers and pave the way
for human clinical trials of the new CAR-T cell against solid cancers,” Dr
Coombs concluded.

Carina Biotech hopes that
this therapy will be able to help improve cancer treatment and offer Australian
patients significant health benefits. Researchers at Carina Biotech will look
to start its first clinical trial of a CAR-T cell therapy within the next few
years.